Bulldog Athletic Association Athletes of the Week
Male: Tanner Farmer, Wrestling
A senior from Highland, Ill., Farmer won the 285-pound Missouri Valley Invite title last week while going 6-0 with three pins. As a result, Farmer earned his second GPAC Wrestler of the Week award in a row. He is now 11-0 as a Bulldog and ranked as the No. 13 heavyweight in the NAIA.
Female: Rachel Battershell, Track & Field
A sophomore from Wheatland, Wyo., Battershell broke her own school record in the 60 meter hurdles with an automatic national qualifying time at the Nisely Memorial Classic. She also won the 600 meter run at Doane. Battershell ranks No. 1 in the GPAC in the 60 hurdles, 400 meters and 600 meters.
2019-20 BAAM Athletes of the Week
Jan. 14 – Tanner Shuck (basketball) / Riley Sibbel (basketball)
Dec. 17 – Gavin DeHaai (track & field) / Kennedy Mogul (track & field)
Dec. 10 – Issiah Burks (wrestling) / Emmie Noyd (volleyball)
Dec. 3 – Mario Ybarra (wrestling) / Kylahn Heritage (cross country)
Nov. 19 – Carter Kent (basketball) / Kara Stark (volleyball)
Nov. 12 – Mario Ybarra (wrestling) / Kylahn Heritage (cross country)
Nov. 5 – Carter Kent (basketball) / Delani Fahey (basketball)
Oct. 29 – Brevin Sloup (basketball) / Kylahn Heritage (cross country)
Oct. 22 – Camryn Opfer (volleyball)
Oct. 15 – Lane Napier (football) / Marissa Hoerman (volleyball)
Oct. 8 – Caleb Goldsmith (soccer) / Tara Callahan (volleyball)
Oct. 1 – AJ Jenkins (football) / Rebekah Hinrichs (cross country)
Sept. 24 – Derek Tachovsky (football) / Kendra Placke (golf)
Sept. 17 – Moises Jacobo (soccer) / Kara Stark (volleyball)
Sept. 10 – Carlos Orquiz (soccer) / Amie Martin (cross country)
Sept. 3 – Eduardo Alba (soccer) / Emmie Noyd (volleyball)
2019-20 BAAM Athletes of the Month
November – Carter Kent (basketball) / Kara Stark (volleyball)
October – Tara Callahan (volleyball) / Lane Napier (football)
September – Derek Tachovsky (football) / Emmie Noyd (volleyball)
News and notes:
69th annual CIT coming up this Friday-Saturday: The 69th annual Concordia Invitational Tournament is coming up Jan. 24-25 and will be hosted by Concordia University, Chicago. The event features eight basketball games as well as cheer and dance competitions. Pre-sale tickets can be purchased at a cost of $15 by clicking HERE. Tickets can also be bought on-site at Geiseman Gymnasium in River Forest, Ill. For more details on CIT, check out the Concordia-Chicago tournament page HERE.
Cheer and dance teams open season at Doane Invite: The competition seasons are underway for the Concordia University cheer and dance teams, who both competed on Sunday (Jan. 19) evening at the Doane Invitational in Crete, Neb. Dance placed second out of three teams while cheer placed out of four squads. The judges gave the Bulldogs scores of 58.05 in dance and 56.50 in cheer. This marks the fourth season as head coach for Mandi Maser. Maser’s teams are captained by seniors Morgan Fritsch and Annie Pico and junior Lanessa Kerner in cheer and junior Kalina Schoenfeld in dance. Both squads are eying improvement in 2020 after they turned in 2019 GPAC placements of sixth in dance and seventh in cheer. For more details on Sunday’s event and for a look at what’s coming up next, click HERE.
Well-rounded Shaw shows path to excellence in leading by example: Senior Adrianna “Addie” Shaw doesn’t always have to say a whole lot, because her actions speak volumes.Said throws coach Ed McLaughlin, “There’s nobody in the country who wouldn’t want to have their own version of Addie. She wants more. She wants to be considered top in the country in multiple events – and that’s tough.” For more on the two-time discus national champion, click HERE.
Council’s trust in process a key to baseball program success: Wade Council trusted the process. When the Concordia University baseball program entered the picture in recruitment, the Colorado Springs, Colo., product bought into the vision for what the next four years could become. It may have been a program without a history of championships to sell, but Council saw through what had happened in the past. A member of two GPAC championship teams, the senior outfielder will always be able to share a claim in writing a completely new chapter in Concordia baseball history. For more on Council, click HERE.
Gap closed in 2019: The 2019 Concordia women’s cross country team closed the gap while winning the GPAC title and placing 12th at the NAIA national championships. Coach Matt Beisel’s squad was led by freshman Kylahn Heritage, who placed runner up in the GPAC and 34th at the national championships. Junior Sydney Clark described the season as “making my whole collegiate dream come true.” For more on this championship team, click HERE.
Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show is underway in its fourth year of existence. The show airs live for a half hour every Thursday beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT on KTMX-FM 104.9 Max Country. The weekly feature can also be heard live via 104.9 Max Country’s website or by downloading the Max Country app. Throughout the 2018-19 season, Bulldog football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball contests will be aired live on Max Country. Tyler Cavalli serves as the host of the coaches’ show as well as the play-by-play voice for football and basketball. Frank Greene is in his fourth season calling Concordia volleyball.
Concordia Sports Network: Live webcasts for most home varsity contests can be accessed by visiting https://www.cune.edu/athletics/watch-bulldogs at game time. Beginning in 2019-20, Concordia Athletics is partnering with PrestoSports for live video and statistical streaming. For more details on this change, click HERE. Check team schedules/results pages for webcast dates. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted.
Wrestling
· The Bulldogs have taken a break from dual action over the past two weekends to compete in tournament action. Last week they took part in the premier NAIA tournament of the regular season: the Missouri Valley Invite (Jan. 17-18). Due to some injuries to key members of the roster, Concordia’s tournament entries were capped at nine competitors. Those Bulldogs combined for 15 wins in Marshall, Mo. Second-year head coach Levi Calhoun’s squad continues to sport an overall dual record of 6-2. For more information on Concordia wrestling, click HERE.
· Former Nebraska Cornhusker starting offensive lineman Tanner Farmer has been the talk of the program since he joined the team for this semester. He continued to prove his abilities as a wrestler last week by winning the 285-pound title at the Missouri Valley Invite. He did so by claiming six victories, including the first three by pin. He also defeated heavyweight foes with NAIA national rankings of second (by forfeit), third, sixth and 18th. Ranked No. 13 at 285, Farmer is likely to soar when the next installment of the national rankings is released on Feb. 6.
· Farmer may have displayed a bit of rust, and perhaps some nerves, when he made his Bulldog debut in the dual win over Ottawa University (Kan.) on Jan. 9. Since then, he’s ramped things up. Farmer is 11-0 with tournament titles at both the Hastings Cusatis Open and the Missouri Valley Invite. He also has recorded four pins while making a rather smooth transition to the mat after formerly having aspirations of playing in the NFL. It took only one week of competition at the NAIA level for Farmer to move to the No. 1 ranking among GPAC heavyweights.
· The Missouri Valley Invite is one of the few regular-season tournaments that features team scoring. Concordia wound up placing in a tie for 16th (51 points) out of 48 NAIA squads present at the event. Farmer led the way by racking up 29 team points. Seven of the nine Bulldogs contributed to the team total. Demitrius Miller (285) chipped in five points via his two pins while Bryan McGahan (197) added four points. Farmer, McGahan and Zack Moistner (133) were the three Concordia wrestlers to advance to the second day of the two-day tournament.
· Miller made some waves by pinning both Saul Rodriguez of Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) and Jacob Sabus of Central Christian College (Kan.). Miller finished at 2-2 for the tournament. Moistner strung together a solid tournament that featured three victories, including a pin of Bethany College (Kan.)’s Kaden Goff. Four Bulldogs recorded exactly one win on the weekend: Issiah Burks (165), Blake Castillo (174), McGahan (197) and Jason Watkins (197). Burks, McGahan and Watkins each notched a pin. Cameron Devers (149) and Giancarlo Facio (125) also competed at Missouri Valley.
· New conference and NAIA rankings were unveiled last week. Concordia continues to rank atop the GPAC with 11 Bulldogs appearing individually in the conference rankings. Concordia accounts for half of the league’s top-rated wrestlers with Mario Ybarra (125), Devers (149), Deandre Chery (174), Darrin Miller (184) and Farmer (285) all being tabbed No. 1. Nationally, five Bulldogs are ranked: Ybarra (No. 17 at 125), Gabe Crawford (No. 19 at 157), Chery (No. 9 at 174), Miller (No. 14 at 184) and Farmer (No. 13 at 285).
· The hopes for another GPAC regular-season title will come down to this pivotal Saturday when the GPAC Duals will be held at Doane. The Bulldogs (6-2, 3-0 GPAC) will dual Hastings, Jamestown, Briar Cliff and Doane, in that order. The event will get started at 9 a.m. CT and will take place inside Fuhrer Fieldhouse on the Doane campus. At 3-0 in the conference, Briar Cliff may be the biggest challenger to Concordia at the top. The Chargers were the regular-season champion in 2017-18. Concordia, Briar Cliff and Doane (1-0) are the lone three teams without a GPAC dual loss.
· Under Calhoun, Concordia has put together a sparkling 15-6 mark in dual meets. Calhoun has also guided the program to a record of 10-1 against GPAC opponents with the only defeat coming last season at the hands of Morningside. The Bulldogs were able to avenge that loss by beating Morningside, 23-16, in Sioux City, Iowa, on Dec. 5. Concordia also owns conference wins this season over Northwestern and Midland. Since the start of the 2014-15 season, the Bulldogs are 36-4 in conference duals.
Track & Field
· After more than a month between meets, the Bulldogs returned to action this past weekend with the Graduate Classic (Jan. 17) hosted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Scott Nisely Classic (Jan. 18) hosted by Doane. Concordia individuals combined for four event titles, including two from sophomore Rachel Battershell, at Doane. Head coach Matt Beisel’s squads had not competed since the Concordia Early Bird Meet (Dec. 13-14) back before the semester break. For more on Bulldog track and field, click HERE.
· Not totally unexpected due to the layoff, the Bulldogs did not produce the same haul of national level marks as they did when they hosted back in December. However, there were some highlights from a national perspective. Battershell broke through with a new automatic national qualifying time of 9.00 in the 60 meter hurdles and star thrower Adrianna Shaw put up a season best ‘A’ mark of 46’ 6 ¼” in the shot put. In addition, fresh ‘B’ standards were turned in at the Nisely Memorial by Chase Berry (pole vault), Colton Meyer (60 meter hurdles) and Sarah Ragland (weight throw). Shaw fell shy of her season best in the weight throw at the Graduate Classic, but her mark of 60’ 1 ¾” was good enough for her to take the title of college event champion.
· Through two weekends of indoor competition, Concordia athletes have combined for 10 automatic national qualifying marks, 15 ‘B’ standards and three NAIA top five multi-event point totals (see full list below). Adrianna Shaw highlights the list with ‘A’ standards in both the shot put and weight throw.
o Andy Amos – B, weight throw (54’ 10 ¼”)
o Rachel Battershell – A, 60 meter hurdles (9.00); B, 400 meters (59.22)
o Taylor Beck – B, triple jump (B, 46’ 3 ½”)
o Chase Berry – B, pole vault (15’ 3”)
o Allie Brooks – A, pole vault (11’ 10 ½”)
o Jacob Cornelio – A, weight throw (64’ 8 ¾”)
o Morgan De Jong – A, weight throw (54’ 8”)
o Gavin DeHaai – A, pole vault (16’ 4 ¾”)
o McKenzie Gravo – B, pole vault (11’ 2 ½”)
o Liam Hennessy – A, weight throw (56’ 7 ½”)
o Kylahn Heritage – B, mile (5:13.84)
o Samuel Joseph – B, triple jump (46’ 4”)
o Wyatt Loga – B, high jump (6’ 7”)
o Emily Loy – No. 5 in NAIA with 3,109 points in pentathlon
o Colton Meyer – B, 60 meter hurdles (8.29)
o Kennedy Mogul – B, 60 meter hurdles (9.14); No. 2 in NAIA with 3,341 points in pentathlon
o Jerod Peters – B, shot put (51’ 5 ¾”)
o Tucker Platt – B, pole vault (15’ 3”)
o Josie Puelz – A, pole vault (12’ 6 ¼”)
o Sarah Ragland – B, weight throw (52’ 2 ¾”)
o Adrianna Shaw – A, shot put (46’ 6 ¼”); A, weight throw (60’ 5 ¼”)
o Sam Sisco – B, pole vault (15’ 3”)
o Cody Williams – A, pole vault (15’ 7”); B, high jump (6’ 7 ½”); No. 2 in NAIA with 5,195 points in heptathlon
· Due to it still being early in the indoor season, just about any ‘A’ standard mark ranks as a top 10 national mark. Freshman Josie Puelz did not compete last week, but her pole vault clearance of 12’ 6 ¼” from the Early Bird continues to lead the NAIA. Senior Jacob Cornelio also owns the nation’s top mark in the men’s weight throw (64’ 8 ¾”) while Shaw ranks second in the women’s shot put (46’ 6 ¼”). In the multi-event categories, juniors Kennedy Mogul (pentathlon) and Cody Williams (heptathlon) also sit second in the NAIA. Meanwhile, Gavin DeHaai is third in the men’s pole vault (16’ 4 ¾”).
· Battershell is well on her way to putting together a fine collegiate career. The sophomore from Wheatland, Wyo., broke her own school record in the 60 meter hurdles last week by running a time of 9.00 in the prelims. She easily out-paced the competition in the finals by running in 9.02. While not a performance that put her on the national leaderboard, Battershell also won the 600 meters at the Nisely Classic with her time of 1:39.28. She is a former eight-time high school state champion and helped Concordia 4x400 meter relays to All-America honors last season for both indoor and outdoor.
· Some other noteworthy efforts were a bit off the national radar. Coming off a GPAC title in women’s cross country, several Bulldog women’s runners have the potential to vie for individual conference titles. That group includes senior Rebekah Hinrichs, who is ranked No. 1 in the GPAC in the 1,000 meters courtesy of her time of 3:12.86 at the Nisely Classic. The Bulldogs also have the potential to dominate the conference in the mile run. The current GPAC leaderboard shows freshman Kylahn Heritage at No. 1, junior Alyssa Fye at No. 3 and Hinrichs at No. 4. Meanwhile, freshman Amie Martin is listed second in the 3,000 meters.
· On the men’s side, Christian Van Cleave has plenty of potential for scoring big points at the conference level. He raced to a time of 1:59.11 in the 800 meters at the Graduate Classic. From a conference perspective, he ranks No. 1 in the 800 and No. 2 in the 1,000 meters. Teammate Jordan Lorenz is another who could make a push for a lofty conference perch. He’s listed at No. 6 currently in the 3,000 meters. The men’s team also has capable hurdlers in Colton Meyer and proven star Cody Williams.
· The Bulldogs will not have to leave the comfortable confines of the Fieldhouse for the remainder of January. They are slated to host the Polar Dog Invite this Saturday and the Concordia Classic (Jan. 30-31) next week. The conference championship meet is only about a month away (Feb. 22). For home meet event schedules, please visit: https://www.cune.edu/athletics/teams/track-and-field/schedule.
Women’s Basketball
· Last week was about taking care of business while up against two conference opponents situated near the bottom of the GPAC standings. In road action, the third-ranked Bulldogs won by scores of 108-64 at College of Saint Mary and 76-64 at Briar Cliff. In earning those victories, Concordia effectively swept the regular-season series over both foes. Fourteenth-year head coach Drew Olson’s squad has won three in a row since its only conference blemish and is now 17-2 overall and 12-1 in GPAC play. For more information on Bulldog women’s basketball, click HERE.
· After Concordia fell at Hastings on Jan. 8, it was expected that a bit of a drop in the polls was coming. In the NAIA Division II poll released last week, the Bulldogs slid back to No. 3 behind No. 1 Southeastern University (Fla.) and No. 2 Hastings. Concordia had held the No. 1 ranking for nearly an entire calendar year. It bumped up to No. 1 on Jan. 22 of last season and held that position for the remainder of the campaign on its way to winning the national title. Impressively, the Bulldogs have been ranked inside the top five nationally in every poll since late November of 2016. Over the previous three seasons, Concordia has finished seasons with final national rankings of first (2019), second (2018) and third (2017).
· Philly Lammers’ pursuit of the program’s all-time scoring record was put on hold last week. She played less than a minute-and-a-half at College of Saint Mary after being forced to leave the game due to injury. She then sat out the Briar Cliff contest, marking the first game she’s missed as a Bulldog. That means the Omaha native is stuck on 1,812 career points, second most in school history behind only Bailey Morris (2,054). Lammers is also 53 rebounds shy of reaching 1,000 for her career. Concordia has also been without All-American guard Taylor Cockerill all season.
· Without Lammers, senior guard Grace Barry really becomes the focal point of the team’s offensive attack. She had a solid week in totaling 29 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the floor and 10-for-10 shooting from the foul line. It was also a good sign that the Lincoln East High School product went 3-for-6 from 3-point range, an area that had been a weakness this season. Even so, Barry continues to be one of the top point guards in the nation. She boasts top 10 national rankings in both assists (5.84) and steals (3.37) per game.
· The absence of Lammers certainly allowed for others to have increased scoring opportunities. In the game at College of Saint Mary, four Bulldogs came off the bench to notch double figures: Elsie Aslesen (16), Taylor Farrell (15), Chloe Schumacher (12) and Averie Lambrecht (10). Two reserves also reached double figures at Briar Cliff: MacKenzie Helman (14) and Claire Cornell (13). Concordia’s roster features 10 players averaging more than five points per game.
· Cornell has made large strides from her freshman season and has become one of the team’s top off-the-bench performers. She’s averaging 6.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per outing. Over the past three contests, her production has spiked to averages of 9.3 points (11-for-19 from the floor) and 5.0 rebounds per game. There’s certainly no doubting the athleticism of the Elm Creek, Neb., native, who was also a national qualifier in 2019 for the Bulldog track and field team.
· Olson had used the exact same starting five for each of the first 18 games of this season. Aslesen jumped into the starting lineup at Briar Cliff in place of Lammers. Barry, Colby Duvel, Mackenzie Koepke and Riley Sibbel have each started all 19 games. Barry has been a starter for each of the 57 contests in her Concordia career. Meanwhile, Sibbel has made 55 starts, Duvel has made 20, Koepke has made 19 and Aslesen has made three.
· At the end of this week, the Bulldogs will be on the hunt for their 30th all-time Concordia Invitational championship. That number is far-and-away the most in the history of the event, which includes the Concordias of Ann Arbor, Chicago and Wisconsin. Lammers is the reigning CIT MVP after she totaled 40 points and 22 rebounds over 2019 CIT victories over CU-Wisconsin and CU-Ann Arbor. CUNE has been especially dominant of late at CIT. Olson’s program has won six-straight CIT titles and 12-consecutive games at CIT. Other MVP’s during that run have been Bailey Morris (twice), Quinn Wragge (twice) and Dani Hoppes.
· Before shifting focusing on CIT, the Bulldogs have a very meaningful GPAC home game versus No. 7 Morningside (17-4, 11-2 GPAC) coming up at 6 p.m. CT on Wednesday. Concordia defeated the Mustangs, 88-77, in Sioux City, Iowa, on Dec. 11. Then at CIT in River Forest, Ill., on Friday, the Bulldogs will go up against CU-Ann Arbor at 1 p.m. Game times on Saturday are 12:45 p.m. for the consolation game and 5:30 p.m. for the championship game.
Men’s Basketball
· These are fun times for the Bulldogs, who are accomplishing many feats the program hasn’t achieved in years. Concordia had a bye in the middle of last week before heading to Sioux City, Iowa, where it defeated Briar Cliff, 83-72, on Jan. 18. The program had not won at Briar Cliff since February 2009. The victory also extended the team’s win streak to seven. Head coach Ben Limback’s squad still has yet to lose during the 2020 calendar year. It enters the week at 14-5 overall and 7-4 in the GPAC (fourth place). For more information on Bulldog men’s basketball, click HERE.
· The seven-game win streak is the longest for the program since the 2009-10 squad also strung together seven victories in a row. At 14-5 overall, Concordia has its best record after 19 games since the 2004-05 national runner up squad was 16-3 at this point in the campaign. In addition, the Bulldogs are now receiving votes in the national poll for the first time since the close of the 2016-17 season. In the new poll released last week, Concordia was listed fifth among the “receiving votes” teams. The program last cracked the top 25 during the 2010-11 season.
· Senior point guard Brevin Sloup has played an instrumental role in this run of success. Last week the Seward High School product became the 31st player in program history to surpass 1,000 career points. He currently stands at 1,001 after totaling a season high 28 points at Briar Cliff. Twenty-four of those points came during a torrid second half at the Newman Flanagan Center. Sloup also added six rebounds and four assists. Sloup is now the second player on the roster to reach 1,000 points. He joined fellow senior Tanner Shuck, who has 1,361 career points.
· The manner by which the Bulldogs have been winning games has been impressive. The last six victories have all been claimed by double-digit margins with Concordia knocking down at least 10 treys in each outing. The Bulldogs are playing at such a level that they can even overcome a game where Carter Kent goes 3-for-10 from the floor as he did at Briar Cliff. In the latest win, eight Concordia players registered at least five points. The Bulldogs shot 52.8 percent from the floor in the second half while pulling away from the Chargers.
· Of course the Bulldogs needed to heat up offensively in order to put together a run like they’ve had, but they have also continued to play solid man-to-man defense. Among GPAC teams, Concordia ranks third in both scoring defense (69.1) and field goal percentage defense (.420). It held Briar Cliff to a 41.3 percent clip. In addition, opponents are shooting only 30.5 percent from 3-point range (seventh lowest opponent 3-point percentage in NAIA Division II). The Bulldogs also boast one of the nation’s top shot blockers in Chuol Biel, who averages 1.78 blocks per game.
· It’s been a nice run for Shuck, who sometimes is even tasked with defending opposing post players. Over the past four games, Shuck has averaged 17.8 points while making 10-of-23 attempts from 3-point range and grabbing 6.3 rebounds per game. In the contest at Briar Cliff, Shuck posted 15 points, six rebounds and two steals. In 111 games at Concordia, Shuck has collected 1,361 points, 406 rebounds, 241 assists and 110 steals.
· Later this week, the Bulldogs will aim to get the CIT trophy back on campus after it went to CU-Ann Arbor in 2018 and CU-Wisconsin in 2019. Limback has presided over five CIT titles, including two when he was the head coach at Ann Arbor. CUNE’s 27 all-time CIT titles are the most in the history of the event. The Bulldogs won the 2016 and 2017 CIT championships behind two-time CIT MVP Chandler Folkerts. The event will head back to Concordia-Chicago this year. CUNE won the title the last time CIT was held there in 2016.
· Prior to departure for CIT, the Bulldogs will host top-ranked Morningside (20-0, 12-0 GPAC) at 8 p.m. CT on Wednesday. The Mustangs remain undefeated, though they got all they could handle from CUNE when they eked out a 72-71 win in Sioux City on Dec. 11. In Friday action at CIT, the Bulldogs will go up against CU-Ann Arbor at 3:15 p.m. Game times on Saturday are 3 p.m. for the consolation game and 7:45 for the championship game.